The Internet is a worldwide network of computers and computer networks arranged to allow for the easy and robust exchange of information or topics between the users of the computers. Hundreds of millions of people around the world have access to computers connected to the Internet via one of the hundreds of Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Content providers may place multimedia information, i.e. graphics and sounds, and other forms of data on servers located at specific locations on the Internet. The information on a server may be accessed over the Internet by a User in order to retrieve the information. A client application, such as a browser or a smart client, may be used by the User to transmit and receive information from the server. The information may be communicated to the User in any desired format, but is often presented to the User in the form of a Web page.
A Web site may have a front end, i.e. Web pages, and a back end, the hardware and software necessary for the Web site to communicate over the Internet. The hardware will typically include a server (a single server may actually support a large number of Web sites) and a communication path between the Web site and the Internet. The software will typically include the software packages necessary to perform the desired functions of the Web site. The software allows for fast analysis of data and the automated performance of the desired functions on the Web site. Web sites may perform complicated functions and data manipulations for a large number of Users all substantially simultaneously.
Each Web site may include one or more Web pages. Web pages may be created using HyperText Markup Language (HTML) to generate a standard set of tags that define how the Web page will be displayed. Users of the Internet may access content providers' Web sites using a software package known as a browser, such as MICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER or NETSCAPE NAVIGATOR. After the browser has located a desired Web site, the browser requests and receives data regarding one of the Web pages from the Web site, typically in the form of an HTML document. The browser will then display the Web page's content for the User on the User's computer. The User may thereafter view other Web pages on the same Web site or move to an entirely different Web site using the browser.
Some conventional Web sites allow Users to make modifications to the Web site's appearance. For example, some conventional Web sites allow Users to select a color scheme for the Web site or even select certain default settings on the Web site according to preferences selected by the User. Conventional Web sites may also allow some Users to skip Web pages with previously viewed/already known information while also allowing Users to view other Web pages with additional information, such as a commonly used frequently asked questions (FAQs) Web page. In addition, some conventional Web sites allow Users to select a topic in order to receive additional or more detailed information regarding the topic.
Applicants have noticed that problems still exist for Users accessing information from a Web page. While Users may select particular Web pages and Web page topics for information, the presentation of the information on any given Web page is at a fixed expertise level. Expertise levels may vary from Web site to Web site or even Web page to Web page, but the expertise level for any given Web page is fixed for every User that views that Web page. In other words, every User that selects a Web page will receive content from the Web page at the same expertise level as every other User that selects that Web page.
Conventional Web pages do not present topics to individual Users based on the User's expertise level. While some Web pages may be directed towards novices (or even children) and other Web pages may be directed towards experts in the field, every conventional Web page presents their topics to Users at a fixed expertise level. While a “novice” expertise level Web page and an “expert” expertise level Web page may exist on the same Web site, Web pages do not change expertise levels based on the expertise levels of their Users. The result is that Users often receive information that is either too advanced for them to fully understand or too simple and does not add to their understanding of the topic being presented.
The problem is further compounded when multiple topics are presented on the same Web page. Any given User may, for example, be an expert on one topic while being a novice on another topic, even for topics presented on the same Web page. Conventional Web pages typically present the information for all their topics at the same expertise level thereby virtually insuring a mismatch for Users having different levels of expertise for different topics on the same Web page.
Many Web sites find it advantageous to send emails to their Users, who are often their Customers. Conventional Web sites transmit emails to their Users at a fixed expertise level, assuming that not only do all their Users have the same expertise level, but that all their expertise levels is about at the same expertise level as the expertise level of the email. These are both almost always faulty assumptions. Users of Web sites typically have a broad range of expertise levels for the topics presented in the emails, thus guarantying that at least some of the Users will not receive emails created with an expertise level appropriate for the User's expertise level. The problem is further compounded for emails that have more than one topic in which Users may have different expertise levels for each of the topics.
Some conventional Web sites, typically for those running a business, have an associated call center for answering their Users' questions regarding the Web site's services and/or products. The call centers receive incoming calls from their Users and route each User to a technical support person to assists the User. Applicants have noticed that not all Users and not all technical support persons have the same expertise level (of course, technical support persons on average typically have a higher expertise level than the Users) for all of the services and products offered by the Web site. The Users commonly have a broad range of expertise levels amongst themselves for each of the different services and products offered by the Web site. Likewise, technical support persons have different expertise levels for different services and products offered by the Web site. The failure of the call center to consider the expertise level of the User when routing the User's call to a technical support person often results in the technical support person either talking above the expertise level of the User or the technical support person being unable to answer or address more advanced issue that a higher expertise level User may have.
Thus, there is a need for a Web site to match the presentation of each topic on its Web page based on the expertise level for the User's expertise level for each topic. There is also a need to transmit customized emails to the Users of a Web site so that the expertise level of each email corresponds to the expertise level of the User receiving the email. There is also a need to route a User calling a customer service center to a technical support person that has an expertise level appropriate for the expertise level of the User.